14th Annual RCBF
Saturday November 6, 2010
10 AM to 4 PM
Monroe Community College
Brighton Campus
The Rochester Children’s Book Festival
is presented by Lift Bridge Book Shop,
in affiliation with
Monroe Community College, 292-Baby, and Rundel Library Foundation.
Our mission
is to promote reading
to and by children,
benefit Monroe County libraries, and forge connections between
the community
and children’s authors and illustrators.
From the Festival Director
Have you fallen in love with books? If you have, this year’s book festival has all the titles you’ve been looking for from Robin Pulver’s brand new picture book Never Say Boo! to Rebecca Stead’s much talked about novel When You Reach Me. Stop at MJ and Herm Auch’s table for a copy of The Plot Chickens or browse through the many fantasy titles on Vivian Vande Velde’s table.
If you haven’t yet fallen in love with all that books have to offer – this could be the day! Be sure to visit Marsha Hayles (Bunion Burt) and Shiela Jarkins (Marco Under the Sea) whose new titles are sure to make you smile.
For many years, Steven Kellogg has been entertaining children and providing classroom teachers with books to support their curriculum. This is his first year at our festival. Be sure to stop by his table and make him feel welcome.
Suzanne Bloom will have Treasure on her table. This is the follow up to A Splendid Friend Indeed. And Tedd Arnold’s Frog in Space will have you wondering how Wilma will ever get home to her pond.
At last year’s festival, a fourth grade boy who had been told by his Mom that he could choose just one title, walked back and forth between my table and author Kate Messner’s table. He carefully scanned my Freedom’s Fire and Kate’s Spitfire. He must have made six trips back and forth between tables before he finally chose Spitfire. This year Kate returns with her new title The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z – sure to tempt mid-grade readers.
Join us on November 7th at MCC. Create a craft at One Busy Bookworm Place. Listen to an author read his or her story in the Read To Me corner. Enjoy a presentation by an author talking about his or her craft. Stop by the teen time room and listen to YA authors discuss their books. Once you’ve enjoyed some time in a room filled with forty authors, we know you’ll fall in love with a good book.
Elizabeth Falk
What's in the Book Festival for teachers and librarians?
By Peg Glisson
Library Media Specialist
Mendon Center Elementary School
Books, authors, young people, parents, workshops, presentations, activities--what isn’t there for librarians and educators to love about the Rochester Children’s Book Festival? What a boost to morale to see so many book lovers in one place, giving verification to our day-to-day literacy efforts!
The Festival has grown from a reasonably small event housed at local libraries to a large, all-day happening at Monroe Community College. Upon entering the building, you immediately feel the energy filling the rooms and spilling out into the halls. Cheerful volunteers, are at the door to greet and direct you. Immediately before you is an Activity Room where youngsters of all ages are eagerly creating works of art.
Upstairs is the main part of the Festival--books and authors! In the main room you’ll find tables and tables of authors with their books, just waiting for you to come by, chat, and perhaps purchase a book and have it signed. Imagine walking up to Newbery and Caldecott winners and shooting the breeze with them! Or reacquaint yourself with those New York authors who have visited your school or library, finding out what they’ve been working on since you last saw them. Share successes you have had with their books in your classroom or library. Listen in to conversations between authors as they sit together. Take time to meet some of the newer, less known authors and examine their works; who knows what treasure you may discover.
Tear yourself away from the hustle and bustle of the mall to take advantage of the workshops, presentations and readings offered all day long. Hear a newly published author describe what’s behind her writing; learn how illustrators hone their craft, trying new techniques and technologies; enjoy a panel addressing writing for young adults; relax as you’re read to by an author or volunteer reader; try your hand at cartooning, guided by a published illustrator. Take notes, for nothing brings a book alive more to youngsters than sharing of insights you garner in these sessions.
Is it tough to “give up” a Saturday? Sure, but the benefits reaped far outweigh the cost. There is some craziness to the day--crowds, lines at times, hurrying to catch a presentation--but there are also moments to reflect on good books and their impact on our lives. Enjoy the activity of the mall, for it’s mostly youngsters excited by meeting authors, often telling them why their book is a favorite. Greet students and their parents and inquire about what they’ve enjoyed at the Festival. Chat with colleagues you run into and exchange titles and book ideas. If you’re like me, you’ll arrive home tired but energized, bubbling over with renewed excitement about the wonderful world of books--thanks to the Rochester Children’s Book Festival!
